Traditionally, beds have been made to only a few specific sizes depending on requirements. For example, a cot for babies, a single bed for one person, or a double bed for two people, the double bed being either a large “king” size or a slightly smaller “queen” size.
Due to these set sizes, people are left with little choice of alternative sizes to suit their individual requirements. For example, it may be necessary to buy an adult size bed for a child's room where this size may not be required until several years later. Hence, space in the room which may have more appropriate uses when the child is young, is unnecessarily taken up by the bed. Moreover, in designing a bedroom the architect may be constrained by the fixed size of the bed so that it is difficult to optimize the design.
Furthermore, in the case where a cot is provided for a child, this may only be suitable for a short period of childhood, after which a larger bed must be bought. Not only does this involve extra costs, but a child may also be reluctant to part with his/her bed. Folding beds and modular type beds (i.e. beds where a base may be slid under the bed) do address some aspects of the problem with fixed sized beds in that a double size bed can be folded or stowed away so as to only take up the space of a single size bed. However, the bed size is still limited to a standard length and width so that the size of the bed cannot always be optimized.
Similar problems with obtaining optimum sizing of furniture to suit a room or to suit changing requirements may also arise with various other types of furniture such as couches, tables, bookcases and the like. These too, as with beds, are of fixed dimensions once assembled thus putting a constraint on the design of a room, and may with time become too large or too small for requirements. Moreover, they may no longer be required for their initial function, and simply take up space.
Another problem with fixed sized furniture arises when installing the furniture in the room. Since the size is fixed, it may be difficult or impossible to carry the furniture in its assembled form into the room due, for example, to narrow doorways, or staircases, thus making it difficult to install or rearrange such furniture.
Furthermore, items of furniture which are no longer required, such as beds for occupants which have left, take up space or must be stored. There is a need to be able to continue to use these items of furniture such as by converting them to other furniture. For example, a bed could be converted into a dining table, a couch, a coffee table, etc.